GP Elections in Coastal district: Kundapura hits 75.28%

13.05.10 : Udupi – Kundapur :As Udupi and Karkala taluks went to polls on May 8 with around 74% voting done in the first phase of GP elections in Karnataka, it was Kundapur Taluk that held the stage (booths) on May12 from 7Am to 5Pm. There was a healthy turn out of votes in naxalite- affected areas in this taluk of Udupi district. By 11Am over 30% of voters exercised their right of franchise in areas like Amasebail. Another N- village Machattu  also had similar turnouts. A voter informed that more developments are expected in the rural areas than what is already done, so villagers have voted in a sense of enthusiasm, hoping for more amenities like roads, water, power and housing , besides educating young ones. Thombat, nesthing under Western ghats, was yet another  village that by noon crossed 50% voting, despite being hyper- sensitive  due to naxal attacks. A road has been laid there of late, under PM Rural Works Scheme, then the naxalites fled. Neverthless, SP Pravin Pawar told the reporters that every culvert and passage in the taluk were checked for any possible hidden explosives employing sniffer dogs. Policemen from Kerala and Tamil Nadu were used to guard 22 polling stations in sensitive areas. DC, P. Hemalatha, IAS, informed that polls were peacefully handled.

DK:  In residual DK district of 5 taluks ,DC. V.Ponnuraj, IAS, spoke to newsmen, telling that polling touched 76% in 199GPs of the region. But another source gave the actual percentage by 4Pm did not go beyond 65% on an average with 2 taluks showing less than 50% in Buntwal and Mangalore taluks, Long queues were seen before noon. The day was hot. Super-sensitive Sajipamuda and Thumbe areas had strong police presence, with vans waiting for offenders. In Someshwara, which had boycotted all the elections in earlier 3 years but did not gain anything thereby, voters thronged the booths on May 12 till noon. Two voters opined that the GP had to be upgraded as TP to secure better facilities for Someshwara.

The following figures show the final turnout in 5 taluks of DK district after 5Pm when voting ended.

Taluk                                        Voting Percentage        Voters actually voted

1. Mangalore                                        71.08                           1.845 lakhs

2. Bantwal                                            73.97                           1.70   lakhs

3. Belthangady                                      72.04                           1.18   lakhs

4. Puttur                                               75.43                           1.18   lakhs

5.Sullia                                                 79.08                           0.66   lakhs

Total voted                                                                               6.566 lakhs

Average (%)                                         73.47

Kodagu: In neighbouring Kodagu district of 2/3 talukas, over 70% voters exercised their rights. Out of 1107 seats, 105 candidates from three areas were returned unopposed, but over 3100 aspirants remain in contest.